somewhat new to the car here - curious on other opinions on the shifting smoothness , or lack thereof, on their TR's. when cold it takes a persistent effort to get into gear. at times 2nd will not even happen and i skip to 3rd. Whilst warmed up - it does shift into gear, but quick and smooth i would not describe it as. is considered normal ?
Well it’s the same as mine! No where near as good as my 308 and sometimes, even when hot, 2nd bites me.
Very common with TRs, mine in particular is very smooth to shift to second even when cold but I prefer to skip it until it warms up. Changing the gear oil makes great improvements. Red line 75W90NS I believe is the preferred one
No its not normal. The internal as well as the external adjustments of the shifter were very poorly done from the factory. The dealer I was at we fixed most prior to delivery. Then there is the oil. They can be very sensitive to the type used and It does not seem to last very long. MY TR stone cold shifts easily. They do have that reputation so many put up with something they do not have to.They use iron syncros and if a bad enough oil is used long enough they will glaze then its game over. If you take one apart and lap the syncros the shifting can be better still. Its not a Miata but its better than any of my 5 speed Mustangs were. Its even better than my 510 was before I changed to ATF in its transmission.
I once took my 91 to a shop in Dubai for a a/c charge that serviced quite a few other examples. The guys there loved the way mine shifted compared to the other ones they drove. The reason was the shifter linkage alignment. Essentially I opened the left side of the gearbox and placed the steel tab on the end of the shifter shaft exactly in the middle of the three rods which control the shifter forks. I also replaced the two bushings in the linkage, one at the engine and one at the shift lever between the seats. Coupled with high quality oil (from memory I used Amsoil with some LSD additive) it shifts very well, even when cold (cold is relative in Dubai). Also, ensure that the clutch is properly bled and the slave cylinder seal is not leaking. If the clutch is not fully disengaging shifting gets difficult. Finally, if your engine mounts are worn out the shifting suffers as the alignment of the linkage will be affected as the engine moves.
